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Sunday, December 07, 2008
Environment - "IDEM parses news reports for governor"
That is the headline to this story today in the Gary Post-Tribune by their environmental reporter, Gitte Laasby. The story begins:
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has been updating Gov. Mitch Daniels' office on media coverage of IDEM up to four times a week, labeling stories as positive, negative and neutral.A second story today by Ms. Laasby begins:And the the governor's office refuses to comment about why it receives the reports.
The Post-Tribune obtained the e-mail updates under a public information request.
Out of 12 news items labeled negative in the updates, seven were articles or opinion pieces from the Post-Tribune relating to BP's expansion and IDEM's handling of permits.
The articles labeled negative were about appeals of BP's air permit; IDEM's refusing to release public records; residents being worried about manure gas from a farm; and IDEM's frequent communication with Duke Energy around the time of an air permit hearing for the company's new Edwardsport plant.
The Post-Tribune asked the governor's office whether it gets similar updates from other state departments; whether the updates were sent at the request of the governor's office; whether the governor's office requested news articles to be categorized; and what the purpose of the reports is.
The governor's office refused to respond to any of the questions.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management still refuses to release calendar items showing when meetings were held to discuss BP Whiting's air permit. But the agency has added a new explanation for the denial.The Post-Tribune requested copies of calendars that show when IDEM employees met internally or with Gov. Mitch Daniels' office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and BP regarding the permit.
IDEM first denied the request saying the calendars were exempt from public access because they were attorney-client or "deliberative" communications.
The Post-Tribune objected in a letter, saying a notice of a meeting is not an attorney product, deliberative or an expression of opinion.
In a response, IDEM did not address the Post-Tribune's objections, but changed its justification for denial.
"Pursuant to Indiana Code ... an agency may withhold diaries, journals, or other personal notes serving as a functional equivalent of a diary or journal," IDEM's Assistant Commissioner Robert Keene said in a letter. "In addition to the legal justifications cited in previous correspondence, your request is denied because calendar entries serve as the functional equivalent of a diary or journal."
To support his case, Keene quoted two opinions of the Indiana public access counselor in similar cases.
But Steve Key, general counsel with the Hoosier State Press Association, disagreed that a calendar can be considered the equivalent of a diary or journal.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 7, 2008 04:34 PM
Posted to Environment